mohair 🐘 goats struggle scream in pain🐘 lifted by the tail

The mohair industry

Mohair, the long, smooth fiber used in sweaters, hats, and other fluffy accessories, comes from angora goats (leading many to confuse it with angora wool, which comes from angora rabbits). Most of the world’s mohair originates in South Africa and the U.S. (particularly Texas), where angora goats are bred primarily for their soft inner coats, which are generally shorn twice a year, beginning as early as six months after birth. A PETA eyewitness investigation of 12 angora goat farms in South Africa—the world’s top mohair producer—documented rampant abuse. Workers dragged goats by their horns and legs, threw them across the floor, mutilated them, and even cut the throats of fully conscious ones. Some shearers lifted the goats up off the floor by the tail, likely breaking it at the spine. Goats are prey animals, which means that being pinned down during the shearing process is especially terrifying for them. Goat kids who were being shorn for the first time were heard screaming in pain and fear.

Workers in the mohair trade are paid by volume, not by the hour, so they’re driven to work quickly and carelessly. Shearers cut broad swaths of skin off some animals—and crudely stitched up the most gaping wounds right there on the filthy shearing floor, without providing any pain relief whatsoever. Workers also used tattoo pliers to punch sharp needles through goats’ ears to identify the animals, causing many to cry out in intense pain. Goats deemed no longer profitable died agonizing deaths. One worker sawed through their throats with a dull knife and then broke their necks. Other goats were hauled to a slaughterhouse, jolted with electricity, hung upside down by one leg, slashed across the throat, bled, and skinned. On some farms, workers also dehorn kids at the age of 1 or 2 weeks, typically by burning their horns off with a hot iron or applying a caustic chemical paste, which causes them to rub or scratch their heads in pain—potentially resulting in severe burns or blindness if the paste is transferred to their skin or eyes. Males also endure painful testicle removal using rubber rings, which leaves them in distress for days and often leads to tetanus infection. These procedures are usually carried out without any pain relief.

Goats’ horns may be burned off with a hot iron when they are 1 or 2 weeks old. Typically, no pain relief is given. An angora goat on a ranch near San Antonio bleats during shearing, a process that requires goats to be held down. In some cases, their legs are tied together. Shearing robs goats of their natural insulation, and unlike sheep, they don’t carry layers of body fat. They’re easily susceptible to internal parasites and cold temperatures, experiencing high mortality rates if left without shelter after shearing, as they often are. They’re so sensitive that summer winds and rain can kill them even when temperatures aren’t low, and shearing them in the winter causes many to die of pneumonia. Their hypothermia also makes them vulnerable to infections, nutritional deficiencies, and other often fatal problems. One worker told PETA Asia’s eyewitness that in just one weekend, 40,000 goats died of exposure across South Africa. Another said that up to 80 percent die after shearing on some farms.